Biden administration cautiously navigates Venezuela election fallout

A political crisis in Venezuela would exacerbate migration pressures in the region and risk further destabilizing the South American country.

The Biden administration said Monday it has serious concerns with the Venezuelan election but stopped short of declaring the narrow victory of President Nicolas Maduro fraudulent or calling for additional sanctions against the South American country.

U.S. officials said they were awaiting more detailed results from Sunday’s voting in which unified opposition supporters turned out in large numbers and appeared to have won according to unofficial exit polls.

The statement of “serious concerns”— issued by Secretary of State Antony Blinken — was followed by National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson saying on X that the U.S. will wait until the government issues “full, detailed results for transparency” before saying whether the election was rigged or not.

Nine countries in the region including Argentina, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay are calling for a complete recount of election results that the National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro, says show the president narrowly defeating opposition candidate Edmundo González.

The reluctance to quickly join other countries in the region in condemning the election comes at a delicate moment, with the opposition insisting it mounted a successful challenge to a government that has turned increasingly authoritarian.

“The election only took place yesterday and several of the important international observation missions won't even make their declarations and assessments until tomorrow,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters in a briefing. “You're seeing a greater alignment between a number of key actors in the international community that is pushing the Venezuelan National Electoral Council towards greater transparency.”

Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, all important regional players with better relations with the Venezuelan government, also called for more information.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters in Mexico City on Monday that he’d hold off on recognizing Maduro as the winner until the National Electoral Council released final results “confirming the trend.”

Colombia’s foreign ministry also reiterated its desire to see complete election results. And Brazil’s foreign ministry called for an “impartial verification” of the vote count and “transparency.”

“The main reason we are cautious is that they have not made the results public, polling site by polling site. What the government has given so far is a single number, but they need to show how they arrived at that number: record by record,” said Celso Amorim, a foreign policy adviser to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Brazil’s main election observer in the country, in comments to Brazilian outlet Globo.

Under Venezuela’s constitution, the National Electoral Council — which administers and oversees national elections — is required to release precinct by precinct results that can be verified and double-checked. While the Council has declared Maduro the winner, it has yet to publicly release those granular results.

Venezuela and its allies in the region have defended the sanctity of the vote and accused American and other foreign officials of “interfering” in the election. Venezuela’s attorney general opened an investigation Monday into opposition leader María Corina Machado on charges she “sabotaged” the elections.

In the past, the Biden administration has been quick to reject results from other questionable elections like Nicaragua’s 2021 election and Belarus’ February elections. But U.S. caution highlights Venezuela’s precarious conditions.

The disputed results could spark massive nationwide protests and intense government reprisals, which could further destabilize the country . Further chaos could also exacerbate migration pressures in the region. Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have fled their country since 2014, many seeking asylum in the U.S. and settling in Texas and Florida.

The cautious response also could be an indication that the U.S. sees a possibility that Maduro could be forced to negotiate an exit and wants to avoid tainting that process by prematurely joining calls for a change in government.

On Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans have voiced their solidarity with the Venezuelan people, but Republicans want the White House to do more. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) called on the Biden administration to “stand against any and all efforts by the criminal Chavista regime to steal its way out of today’s clear election results” in a post on X.

Republican lawmakers that represent states and districts with large Venezuelan communities have criticized the administration’s pre-election strategy, which included offering Caracas sanctions relief in exchange for guarantees of a free and fair voting..

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee who represents Florida’s large Venezuelan community, wrote on X that “Biden & Harris broadly eased Trump sanctions on Maduro regime as part of a “deal” for elections in #Venezuela. Today was that election and it was a complete fraud.”

“Maduro has stolen another election from the Venezuelan people & the Biden-Harris admin helped him do it by fueling his power with sanctions relief & appeasement. Edmundo González won & he must be recognized as President-elect,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in a post on X.

Isabella Ramírez contributed to this report.